Tuesday, December 16, 2014

Fighting Terror with Terror is Immoral

Former Deputy Director of the CIA, Michael Morell, was asked by CBS news yesterday to respond to the
latest terrorist attack by an extremist Muslim in Australia. What he said was
scary, but not surprising. He said that an event like this will without a doubt
happen in the US. It’s just a matter of time.

The reason it will is because extremist
Islamic groups like ISIS are inspiring people to act like this in the name of
God. ISIS is not an international organization. Its ‘soldiers’ are limited to
the Middle East. But their threats of bringing the war to the US are not empty
ones. Their religious fervor has been transferred to countless people around
the world and inspired them to act in the name of Islam. They consider it a
duty to God to bring Islam to the entire world.

While it is true that the terrorist in Australia was known
to be deranged, his motives were nevertheless clear. He was ‘doing it for God’.
This morning we saw yet another terrorist attack in Pakistan where a group of 8
Taliban terrorists massacred 135 people and injuring 114 before themselves being
killed.

I think it is important to understand what all these attacks
have in common. They are being done in the name of God. As are the beheadings
by ISIS. I say this not to God forbid disparage religious beliefs. I say this
to point out the futility of trying to stop people motivated to kill in His
name.

I believe that such thinking is underlies Muslim hatred of
Israel and the Jewish people. It seems like the more devout a Muslim is, the
greater the hatred of the Jew. While it is true that there are many exceptions
to this among Muslims and even some of its leaders (especially the non Arabic
Muslims) I do believe that in the Middle East, they are in the minority.

This is not to say that most Muslims want to kill Jews. Nor
is to say that the vast majority would ever dare to do so. They would not. But the hatred is the same. All we can ever really hope for is that if the
radical Muslim's are ever defeated to the point where they will no longer be
able to cause any harm, that we can make peace with them despite the hatred of
us to varying degrees by most of them.

As I have said many times, I am at a loss to see any
solution to the current phenomenon of terror by Muslim extremists. Which
include Hamas,Hezbollah, Islamic Jihad, ISIS, the Taliban, Al Qaida, and a
whole host of smaller groups and even individuals.

Islamic extremists have in common one thing: the
Islamization of the entire world in the name of God. And to accomplish that by
any means necessary. Even if it means killing fellow Muslims in a suicide
mission. Their eyes are solely on the ‘prize’. Their target number one in this
mission is Israel and the Jewish people.

That they haven’t gotten to us in recent years as much as
they’d like to is due to the fact that God has given us - the Jewish people - the
means to protect ourselves via our
intelligence, our defensive systems (Iron Dome), our military might, and our
close relationship with the United States who helps us out in those goals. But
make no mistake about it. If they could get to us, they would kill us all. While
there are different tactics used among these groups in the extent of their
violence, it is hardly relevant to the fact that they want to destroy us.

You cannot reason with these people. The entire civilized world can condemn them
1000 times over and they could not care less. That’s because they do not value
the entire civilized world. We are all infidels to them.

So how do we deal with this situation? Like I said, I don’t
know. Do we fight fire with fire? Tempting as that may be, it is the wrong
solution. We cannot go into Arab neighborhoods and blowup Muslim schools or mosques. Or damage them in any way. Randomly killing innocent people is about as immoral an act any human being can
do. It is immoral to hurt innocent people
in any way, whether it is inflicting physical pain or property damage.

Those who counter and say they all hate us anyway and we ought
to do to them what they do to us, could not be more wrong. Not only is it immoral it is a Chilul HaShem. Which is
why I am glad that a group of people who think along those lines and act
accordingly – were arrested today. Form
the Jerusalem Post:

The head of a far right extremist group Lehava was arrested
on Tuesday for allegations of incitement and calls to carry out violence and
terror activity based on nationalistic motives, Israel Police reported…

Lehava chairman Bentzi Gupstein, along with nine other
activists from the group,were each taken into custody from their individual
homes, following ten months of both open and undercover police investigation…

Three of the group's members were accused of carrying out
arson and racist vandalism last month at Max Rayne Hand in Hand School, a joint
Jewish-Arab school in Jerusalem. Hebrew graffiti was found on the school’s
walls, with slogans such as “You can’t coexist with a cancer,” “Kahane was
right,” “Enough with assimilation” and “Death to Arabs.”

The group follows the racist teachings of the late Jewish
Defense League founder Meir Kahane…

It is so sad that Rabbi Kahane, who had such a fine mind and
who was a keen observer of the Arab Israeli conflict had such radical ideas.
Ideas that inspired the kind of immoral behavior that this group practiced. He could have been a great leader had he used
his clear view of the realities of the Middle east in better ways. Instead his rhetoric
brought out the worst in his followers. One of whom became a mass murderer an
Maaras HaMachpela.

To a far lesser degree Rabbi Pruzansky is of a similar
mindset. A mindset which roundly condemned by mainstream Orthodox organizations - as I did. Even though I understood the emotions that brought about
such thinking. Both in Rabbi Kahane and in Rabbi Pruzansky.

Now I’m sure that Rabbi Pruzansky condemns this group
too. But his ideas to can inspire such behavior.
It should be a lesson, not only to him, but to any of us who allow our emotions
to get the better of us – and instead to think clearly about the ultimate consequences
of such thinking. Consequences that are ultimately immoral and a Chilul HaShem.
Despite the immoral depravity (albeit moral to them) of those Islamist
extremists whose acts match that of the Third Reich, we do not have the moral right
to react to them in kind.

What the answer is to this growing threat to the free world –
is perhaps the most difficult question facing the civilized world today. As I indicated,
the unrelenting terror being perpetrated by radical Islam on the world is beyond
horrific. It makes Kahanism seem mild by comparison. But one thing I am certain
of. Kahanism is not the answer.

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About Me

My outlook on Judaism is based mostly on the teachings of my primary Rebbe, Rabbi Aaron Soloveichik from whom I received my rabbinic ordination. It is also based on a search for spiritual truth. Among the various sources that put me on the right path, two great philosophic works stand out: “Halakhic Man” and “Lonely Man of Faith” authored by the pre-eminent Jewish philosopher and theologian, Rabbi, Dr. Joseph B. Soloveitchik. Of great significance is Rabbi, Dr. Norman Lamm's conceptualization and models of Torah U’Mada and Dr. Eliezer Berkovits who introduced me to the world of philosophic thought. Among my early influences were two pioneers of American Elementary Torah Chinuch, Rabbis Shmuel Kaufman and Yaakov Levi. The Yeshivos I attended were Yeshivas Telshe for early high school and more significantly, the Hebrew Theological College where for a period of ten years, my Rebbeim included such great Rabbinic figures as Rabbis Mordechai Rogov, Shmaryahu Meltzer, Yaakov Perlow, Herzl Kaplan, and Selig Starr. I also attended Roosevelt University where I received my Bachelor's Degree - majoring in Psychology.